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THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW - 2026
Presented by AIPAD - Park Avenue Armory, New York April 22 - 26, 2026Read more -
Today's Life & War
Gohar Dashti, Shadi Ghadirian, and Tahmineh Monzavi February 11 - April 28, 2023Robert Klein Gallery is pleased to present 'Today’s Life & War”, an exhibition of works by contemporary photographers Gohar Dashti , Shadi Ghadirian , and Tahmineh Monzavi . Presenting a...Read more
Artist Statement:
Miss Butterfly is going to meet the sun; as she is looking for a way out and reaching for the light, she becomes caught in a spider’s web. Moved to compassion after observing Miss Butterfly’s grace and delicacy, the spider comes to an agreement with her. He tells her to bring one of the insects from the dark cellar and tie it up in the spider’s web for him. In turn, the spider will show her the way out and lead her into the light. But after hearing the insects’ stories, Miss Butterfly feels pity for them and eventually returns to the spider empty-handed, with injured wings; and she makes herself caught in the web to be the spider’s food. Impressed by her courage, the spider sets Miss Butterfly free and shows her the way out to meet the sun. Miss Butterfly calls all the other insects in the cellar to share her freedom with them, but she gets no response. She is so frustrated by their reaction that she opens wide her weary wings and flies toward the sun.
"Talking about people is my main interest. Years ago, I was actively involved with the issues of women’s rights. It was the time that I directly showed the achievements or problems of Iranian women. But gradually, I shifted towards the subjects of human rights. Now, I prefer to talk about the concerns that deal with not a single gender, but the human tribe."
One of Iran’s leading contemporary photographers, Shadi Ghadirian was born in1974 in Tehran, Iran, where she lives and works today. A student of the renowned photographer and photography historian Bahman Jalali,Ghadirian was among the first to graduate in photography from Azad University in Tehran. Her photography explores contemporary life in post-revolutionary Iranian society, with a focus on the role of women of her generation. Ghadirian is a cofounder of the association Fanoos Photo, a platform for contemporary photography in Iran. Her work has appeared in several solo exhibitions, such as those at the Los Angeles CountyMuseum of Art (2008 and 2011), as well as in Mumbai, Jerusalem, and Paris, amongother cities. Her work has also been featured prominently in several major exhibitions of contemporary Middle Eastern art, such as Light from the Middle East: New Photographyat the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (2012) and She WhoTells a Story,at the MFA Boston (2013).
Text courtesy She Who Tells A Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World, by Kristen Gresh, 2013
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles,CA
Smithsonian Museum, Washington,D.C.
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran